The 4 Best Encrypted Messengers for Android
Privacy is a big issue these days and governments are constantly being accused of reading through our messages. Although I don’t think any messenger is going to be safe from the intelligence agencies, there are a few good encrypted messengers for Android that can keep your messages away from hackers or data interceptors.
In recent days a lot of different messengers are starting to encrypt their messages. Whatsapp and Facebook messenger were the recent ones to start encrypting their messages. However, if you still don’t trust those mainstream messengers, here are a few good encrypted messengers for Android that may entice you. You don’t have to worry about the encryption, the apps will be taking care of that themselves, so you can easily use them as standard messaging apps.
Note: The 5 best encrypted messengers for Android were tested on a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge smartphone. The apps worked fine and no problems are faced during the testing phase. I’m not a cryptographer so, I won’t be able to gauge the encryptions themselves. However, the apps have great ratings on Play Store and are trusted by professionals.
1. Signal Private Messenger
This encrypted messenger for Android uses end-to-end encryption protocol that provides a greater level of privacy. One of the reasons for its success is its open-source nature. So, a lot of different professionals have actually verified its security by auditing the original code.
This is the only messaging app that uses open-source peer-reviewed cryptographic protocols, if you think that’s a mouthful, you’re right, I had to Google everything myself. Another good reason is that this messenger doesn’t even use logins or usernames or passwords. You’ll also be able to create group chats that are encrypted. Furthermore, you’d be able to make crystal clear phone calls, this feature works just as advertised.
2. Telegram
Telegram is the most popular encrypted messenger out right now on Android. There is a good reason behind its popularity, it’s because it is immensely accessible. Compare it with your stock messaging app and you’ll be hard-pressed to find any differences. The app uses a very familiar layout is that of the stock Android messaging app.
This means that you don’t have to fiddle around with options upon options to get the right look. One of the best things is that you can access your messages from all of your devices simultaneously, all your messages are staying in real time.
3. Wickr Me
Wickr Me is a free end-to-end encrypted picture, video and texting messenger. The description claims that it is trusted by world leaders, journalists, and executives. I’m not sure about all those endorsements, but this is a solid encrypted messenger. The interface is clean and without clutter.
There is a shredder option that allows you to remove all the deleted messages, videos and images from your device leaving nothing behind. You’ll also be able to configure the timer to expire your existing messages. There will also be no metadata stored about the messages you send, so all the records, Geo tags, and identifying information will be removed.
4. surespot encrypted messenger
Out of all the encrypted messengers for Android on this list, this one is my least favorite. The interface is not very clean and a lot of features are not working as intended. From what I hear the app has been in the Beta for a long time. Apart from that, this is a quality encrypted messenger app which provides the core functionality well. Everything is sent using end to end encryption on this app.
This app has Symmetric key encryption, using keys created with 521-bit shared secret derivation. It took me a while to fully understand how all of this works but rest assured your messages will be secured. You’ll also be able to send encrypted voice messages through this app.
Conclusion
These were some of the best encrypted messengers for Android available right now. I recommend the first three ones because they are in active development and are quite stable.
So, what do you think about these messengers? Granted they are not as fancy as the best messaging apps for Android, they do have a different kind of utility to them. Tell us your opinion in the comments.
I think soma messenger is better then all the above as I have tested all the above. Soma is 256 bit encrypted and is very fast at sending and receiving messages also very stable
Thanks for the suggestion. How long have you been using it?
Billa, thanks for the article.
I have heard of Bleep by BitTorrent, as a great peer-to-peer serverless messaging app (I have not used it).
Would your team kindly make a review of that app so we can hear the opinion from the experts? Maybe you can add it to the comparison in an updated article.
Billa, thanks for the article.
What do you think about Bleep by BitTorrent?
I would like to hear the opinion of the experts about this peer-to-peer serverless app.